Czech foreign minister calls Russian junior hockey players 'mannish' and faces backlash
Petr Macinka said he opposes Russia's team at January's junior worlds in Czechia and called hockey a men's sport. Czech NHL players and a predecessor pushed back.
Czech Foreign Minister Petr Macinka has stirred up a row over junior hockey. In a TV interview, he said he opposes letting a Russian team play at the junior world championship that Czechia hosts in January 2027.
He called hockey a men's sport and described the Russian players as "mannish". He also said the tournament would lose nothing without them.
The reaction was quick. His predecessor at the foreign ministry and Czech players in the NHL (North America's top league) criticised the remarks as sexist. Russian hockey legend Vyacheslav Fetisov called them "outrageous".
The row comes as Russia, suspended by the IIHF (international hockey's governing body) since February 2022, edges back toward its events. A day earlier, Norway was dropped from the junior worlds and Russia was offered its spot. Meanwhile, Canada's prime minister's office repeated that Russian athletes cannot compete for their national teams on Canadian soil.
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